The Word Nerds on Facebook

This cyber-age in which everybody is networking through the internet, it is inevitable the practice leads to new vocabulary. Necessarily it is a matter of time, language podcasters such as The Word Nerds, pay attention to the new lingo.

It seems to me that the greatest hype of networking currently is Twitter, but in their show about Social Networking (#115) the greatest amount of the Nerds' interest goes to Facebook - a good number two in the range of social sites, I guess. The reason for this is not in the least the Nerds are heavy Facebook users themselves. As a consequence, the initial part of the show is mostly about the use of Facebook, rather than the vocabulary. When they finally get to it, the listener will learn, among others, new meanings for verbs like to peep and to stalk.

The Word Nerds podcast has a page of its own on Facebook, though their own site also has a forum where the audience can socialize. It is an example I try to emulate. For Anne is a Man, there is also a blog network page on Facebook and the forum is shared with Dara's and Baxter's blog at The Podcast Parlor. And even on Twitter, I can be followed.

Previous reviews of The Word Nerds on this blog:
Abrrev & txt,
Stories and Story Telling,
Debate,
Ambiguity and linguistic tics,
Syntax.

The new direction of Dave P

The narration podcasts I keep following are those by Dave P. Namaste Stories and The New York Coffee Cup come out rather irregularly. The short, five to twenty minute narrations by Dave P carry a very unique style and atmosphere that is both emotional and distanced. The tales observe and attach to people and emotions, trying not to judge them. The diction and the music is very suitable: restrained and passionate at the same time.

So it is always interesting to see what Dave P comes up with next and aside the two podcats he has begun publishing visual work. He is dabbling in the art of animation and this work in progress can be followed on the blog Namaste-Wood.



More Dave P on this blog:
New York Coffee Cup,
Namaste Stories, podcast as an art,
Namaste Stories, fiction podcast.

Carthage - In Our Time and other history podcasts

The latest programme of BBC's In Our Time touched on a subject you can listen about also in many other podcasts. Carthage was Rome's competitor in the third century BCE and with it's destruction by the Romans history took a definite turn. In Our Time investigated the destruction of Carthage and what it meant for the Romans

Obviously with the fall of Carthage, Rome went on the fast track to becoming a hegemony and this is what is emphasized in Dan Carlin's Hardcore History trilogy about the Punic Wars. However, the sheer magnitude and completeness of the destruction filled the Romans with a sense of foreboding and took on the meaning not just of the entrance to greatness, but also the road to downfall. The Romans seemed to understand that each great victory in a way implies also a defeat, not for the defeated, but for the victor.

If you follow the history from Carthage's perspective, as does Patrick Hunt in his series about Hannibal the same seems true. Hannibal's feats in Italy constantly had defeat and victory interwoven. No matter how strong and smart Hannibal was, his downfall seemed to be inevitable and only expedited by his successes. Somehow these great warriors and warrior nations understood a deep truth about victory in battle: there are no pure gains and even victory is a fateful and fearful event.

Do you like to exchange thoughts on ideas like these? Join The Podcast Parlor and discuss all sorts of podcasts with all sorts of other listeners.

More In Our Time:
The brothers Grimm,
The modest proposal,
History of history,
Darwin special,
The Consolation of Philosophy.

The Punic Wars in Hardcore History:
Punic Nightmares III,
Punic Nightmares II ,
Punic Nightmares I.

Hannibal by Patrick Hunt:
Hannibal in the end,
Ten discoveries that rewrote history,
Patrick Hunt on Hannibal (and more),
Hannibal Barca on the couch,
Where did Hannibal cross the Alps?.

Idealism - Philosophy Bites review

The podcast Philosophy Bites has quietly moved to a schedule of releasing every two weeks. I reported my suspicion and it has been confirmed by the makers themselves. Apart from that, no change. The podcast remains the short interview about a philosophical subject.

The latest issue I heard dug into idealism. This is a notion about reality that, in my own words, assumes it is dependent of consciousness. Or in other words, this keyboard exists, because I am aware of it.. I remember reading a quote from Churchill in Popper's book Objective Knowledge about idealism. It doesn't exactly ridicule it, but simply shoves it aside for reasons of common sense. Yet, now that we assume all sorts of intangible particles to be part of physical reality, how much common sense is in that?

In any way, Idealism is a serious philosophical standpoint. Not only in western philosophy, also in Chinese and Indian traditions. The issue of Philosophy Bites explores these, compares them and points out where all traditions can learn from each other. Implicitly, idealism is taken seriously and one is invited to ponder the merits of the approach.

Do you like to exchange thoughts on ideas like these? Join The Podcast Parlor and discuss all sorts of podcasts with all sorts of other listeners.

More Philosophy Bites
Alternative Hedonism,
Non-realism of God,
Virtue,
Nietzsche,
Kierkegaard.

Dick Berlijn - Marathon Interview recensie

In de verse serie Marathon Interviews sprong het interview van Ger Jochems met voormalig commandant der strijdkrachten Dick Berlijn er op voorhand uit. Niet alleen zijn er met Berlijn de nodige hete hangijzers omtrent de missie in Uruzgan te bespreken, maar er was ook al meteen een aankondiging op het blog van Hanneke Groenteman.

De moderne interviews van drie uur blijken steeds opnieuw onvergelijkbaar met de oude van vijf uur. Hoewel drie uur toch ook lang is en de vijf uur in het verleden ook nogal eens te lang bleek te zijn, houd je toch bij vele van de nieuwe uitzendingen het gevoel dat er zoveel achter is gebleven. Ondanks alle goes is dat ook zo bij het interview met Berlijn. Interviewer Ger Jochems had hem misschien wat harder mogen aanpakken, of op bepaalde onderwerpen dieper voortborduren, maar ja dan heb je de klok.

Desalniettemin is er een heel behoorlijk produkt afgeleverd. Voor wie Berlijn nog niet kende (zoals ik) en voor wie het Nederlandse leger toch een beetje een abstractie is, komt er een heel interessant beeld naar boven. Berlijn probeert ook niets te verbergen en ontwijkt geen moeilijke vragen. Ook niet als het over Afghanistan gaat. Je kan ook zijn emotie wel begrijpen. De kritiek vanuit Nederland is makkelijk, maar opeens wordt duidelijk hoezeer de soldaten, tot en met de hoogste commandant, smeken om erkenning en morele steun. Hoezeer Berlijn dit verlangen ook rationeel probeeert weer te geven, het is de gevoelsmatige kant ervan die bij mij is blijven hangen. Niet wat je had verwacht van een generaal.

Meer Marathon Interviews:
Ward Ruyslinck,
Marte Röling,
Remco Campert,
Marjolijn Februari,
Jan Blokker.

Anne is a Man - 1000 blog posts

I started this blog in May 2007 and by now I have written 1000 posts. The real surprise for me is that I have been able to keep on writing. The fact that I attract about 200 readers a day has been beyond my thinking. I had no idea what to expect and on the other hand, my ambition remains to acquire much more.

The fear might be that one day the writing power will leave. I have no such fear yet. The inspiration seems very powerful and alive.

On the subject of how to deal with the writing magic, watch the following TED talk:



More TED:
Bill Gates,
Stephen Petranek,
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,
Philip Zimbardo,
Jonathan Haidt.